Shakespeare was right; all the world’s a stage and all the men and women are players upon that stage. We’re also the writer, the producer and director of our own little comedies and dramas, and we all play lots of different roles.

I began playing the role of object lesson early in life by habitually running full tilt under the kitchen table — and then grew.

Mom said I knocked myself out three times demonstrating how not to get safely from one side of the kitchen to the other. I’m too darned old to play the part of object lesson any longer. At this age, we’re all one bad fall from losing our independence, and having spent last winter holding still and healing, I have no intention of reprising my role as invalid.